English

A comprehensive continuum theory of structured liquids

Soft Condensed Matter 2023-02-08 v2 Statistical Mechanics

Abstract

We develop a comprehensive continuum model capable of treating both electrostatic and structural interactions in liquid dielectrics. Starting from a two-order parameter description in terms of charge density and polarization, we derive a field-theoretic model generalizing previous theories. Our theory explicitly includes electrostatic and structural interactions in the bulk of the liquid and allows for polarization charges within a Drude model. In particular, we develop a detailed description of the boundary conditions which include the charge regulation mechanism and surface polarization. The general features for solving the saddle-point equations of our model are elucidated and future applications to predict and validate experimental results are outlined.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2206.03152,
  title  = {A comprehensive continuum theory of structured liquids},
  author = {Ralf Blossey and Rudolf Podgornik},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2206.03152},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

19 pages; accepted for publication in J. Phys. A

R2 v1 2026-06-24T11:41:43.935Z